Always a Wasp
General Category => Wasps Rugby Discussion => Topic started by: Neils on May 03, 2023, 10:23:44 AM
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Latest on London Irish and sounds worrying: Apparently, wages have not been paid this morning as promised and players/staff attending a club meeting at 11.45.
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Latest on London Irish and sounds worrying: Apparently, wages have not been paid this morning as promised and players/staff attending a club meeting at 11.45.
Given how fast money can be transferred 24 hours a day, no more so-called banking hours, that does not bode well for the game at the weekend.
Moreover, I wonder if, at this stage they drop out of the PRL, as We and Wuss have, how that would affect the tables with all their games taken out? Gets out calculator. Saints move up to 3rd and Leicester down to 4th, with Saints 4 points ahead of Tigers. Tigers have one game to play, Saints are all done for the season. Tigers have a massive advantage on points difference, so all they have to do is beat Quins at Welford Road. Chiefs would not be playing, so they stay outside of the top 4. Newcastle still remain bottom, but only just behind (2pts) Glaws, so for those two teams, the wooden spoon is still to play for. Newcastle play away at Sale, but Sale have nothing to play for, their 2nd place is assured. Glaws play away at Bristol, and I figure Bristol may want to win their last home game of the season, especially against local rivals. So, who knows, Maybe Glaws would get the wooden spoon?
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Getting a bit heated over on The Craic (rugby network).
11:45am meeting for staff and players, and confirmation they haven't been paid.
RFU have not approved the sale, due to it being a fund that is the buyer, with no (as yet) nominated leading person to head it up and take responsibility.
Brentford reported to have asked Irish to find somewhere else to play. Wimbledon confirmed Irish have approached them, but their ground has a 9300 capacity (but I guess they could throw up temp stands).
Irish have closed their ticket sale site (they say temporarily) this morning.
Looks like it is a far from done deal, and no money in the bank to pay players ...
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Horrible feeling of deja vu about this.
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Horrible feeling of deja vu about this.
Yes. The only factor missing is HMRC/DCMS, but, for all we know, they too could be going down the process at the end of which sits the Court. You only get to know they are on that route when the Court documents are filed. The repayment schedule is monthly, so I have to wonder if Irish have paid the one due yesterday? My guess would be not. Other HMRC deadlines may also fall due on Friday (which is VAT payment day for example, NI and Tax, etc). Not paying wages is just an indicator of business health (and it must be dire).
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I?m afraid LI are down the gurgler. Very sad indeed.
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Really truly??????????????
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Being reported that LI players will boycott the game at the weekend unless they are paid.....
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Looks like the players have not been paid, but everything else to allow the game on Saturday to proceed has been sorted (maybe):
https://twitter.com/MattMerritt/status/1654072706801836034
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Looks like the players have not been paid, but everything else to allow the game on Saturday to proceed has been sorted (maybe):
https://twitter.com/MattMerritt/status/1654072706801836034
That page gone
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Looks like the players have not been paid, but everything else to allow the game on Saturday to proceed has been sorted (maybe):
https://twitter.com/MattMerritt/status/1654072706801836034
That page gone
Nope twatter down.
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Looks like the players have not been paid, but everything else to allow the game on Saturday to proceed has been sorted (maybe):
https://twitter.com/MattMerritt/status/1654072706801836034
That page gone
Got that - pressed on the retry button and it appeared.
Nope twatter down.
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London Irish players demand insurance proof before agreeing to play Exeter
This afternoon in The Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/may/04/london-irish-players-demand-insurance-proof-before-agreeing-to-play-exeter-rugby-league (https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/may/04/london-irish-players-demand-insurance-proof-before-agreeing-to-play-exeter-rugby-league)
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London Irish players demand insurance proof before agreeing to play Exeter
This afternoon in The Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/may/04/london-irish-players-demand-insurance-proof-before-agreeing-to-play-exeter-rugby-league (https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/may/04/london-irish-players-demand-insurance-proof-before-agreeing-to-play-exeter-rugby-league)
Now been paid by Crossan.
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London Irish players demand insurance proof before agreeing to play Exeter
This afternoon in The Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/may/04/london-irish-players-demand-insurance-proof-before-agreeing-to-play-exeter-rugby-league (https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/may/04/london-irish-players-demand-insurance-proof-before-agreeing-to-play-exeter-rugby-league)
Now been paid by Crossan.
Wages also paid by him.
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The Times are reporting that the RFU have imposed a deadline of May 30 (and Monday 29 May is a bank holiday) for the London Irish takeover to be completed. It also appears that whilst the players were paid, most other creditors were not. The saga is not over, yet.
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I think I've said this before but there is an awful feeling of deja vu about this.
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Don?t teams going into administration in the off-season simply pick up a 25 point penalty for the following season? If that?s the case and as there?s no relegation, Irish might be wise to get it over and done with as soon as the final whistle blows on the Prem Final
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That may well be the plan, quickly drop into administration and sell as a pre pack (much like Wasps hoped that they could do).
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That only works out if there?s no relegation next season. Has that been announced yet?
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Don't they want 10 teams from 2024/25? In which case something will have to give next season.
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That may well be the plan, quickly drop into administration and sell as a pre pack (much like Wasps hoped that they could do).
Brentford already want them gone from their stadium. Any form of insolvency would likely end their contract. So they would have nowhere to play. And they still have to pay all rugby creditors.
I could see the RFU suddenly deciding relegation is happening next year, but nobody is coming up.
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They?re relegated if they go into admin - which they will. It hands the PRL Baxter?s preferred 10 team league (their long term stated objective of the last 10 months). What happens to Irish? They don?t care or know.
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In the cases of Irish & Warriors what I cannot understand is why any "investors" from the US or otherwise, who don't have a personal relationship to the club, would want to put money into saving it?
Warriors have land assets, but these are tied up in a 5 year restriction.
Irish, have pretty much no assets.
Why, would any sane person that isn't in love with either club want to sink their cash into them?
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In the cases of Irish & Warriors what I cannot understand is why any "investors" from the US or otherwise, who don't have a personal relationship to the club, would want to put money into saving it?
Warriors have land assets, but these are tied up in a 5 year restriction.
Irish, have pretty much no assets.
Why, would any sane person that isn't in love with either club want to sink their cash into them?
You could say the same of any club, or any sport. Wasps, for example.
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You could say the same of any club, or any sport. Wasps, for example.
From what little we know of Wasps new owners they would appear to have a personal interest, or "love" of Wasps.
Whatever you feel about the current & recent crop of sugar daddies (Derek included, for now) they all seem to have a genuine love of their chosen club (together with large ego's!) and are happy to expend their own money in pursuit of success.
Why would you put money into a club you had no interest in? (I didn't use the term "invest" because no one is likely to see a return!)
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In the cases of Irish & Warriors what I cannot understand is why any "investors" from the US or otherwise, who don't have a personal relationship to the club, would want to put money into saving it?
Warriors have land assets, but these are tied up in a 5 year restriction.
Irish, have pretty much no assets.
Why, would any sane person that isn't in love with either club want to sink their cash into them?
Irish own Hazelwood, their training centre, in Sunbury. There's a fairly decent sized main building with offices, a gym, and space to run events, as well as at least five pitches.
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Irish own Hazelwood, their training centre, in Sunbury.
According to the LI board, there would be major issues around planning permission on that site (no idea what that would be)
secondly, no idea whether LI actually own it, or Like the EPIC, is it owned by A.n.Other related company?
Thirdly, I would expect there would be a much easier way for the "American Investors" to acquire a plot of land for development than go through the hassle of buying a distressed rugby club, then folding it & building luxury housing.
According to the LI board, again, most of their debts are to the current owner. If he is prepared to write those off, I don't think LI would be in that bad a shape, they "just" need new owners who can inject enough capital to pay the bills and keep the club afloat.
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Of all the clubs in the Prem I would say London Irish are the most likely to have American support, from wealthy Americans of Irish heritage.
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Of all the clubs in the Prem I would say London Irish are the most likely to have American support, from wealthy Americans of Irish heritage.
Good point.
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Alfred 'Chip' Sloan is the leader of the consortium. He is, I think, what many term as 'African American'.
Others involved are Ray Lewis, Julius Erving, Allen Iverson and Dikembe Mutombo. All also 'African American'. The fund supposedly involved represents retired basketball stars, and that is not a sport much associated with Irish Americans.
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Revealed: Head of consortium bidding to take over London Irish is California lawyer Chip Sloan
Exclusive: The revelation comes after London Irish could become the third Premiership club to go under this season
By Gavin Mairs, Chief Rugby Union Correspondent 15 May 2023 ? 8:58pm
The man behind the US consortium attempting to buy London Irish can be revealed as Alfred ?Chip? Sloan, a former sports agent and California-based lawyer, who previously expressed an interest in investing in Saracens two years ago.
The revelation comes as the Rugby Football Union threatened the club with suspension from the Premiership if it fails to complete an approved takeover or provide evidence that it has the funds to complete next season by a deadline of May 30.
It is understood that contingency plans are being drawn up by the league for next season in case London Irish go under, with the restructuring to 10 teams set to be brought forward by a year ahead of the new professional game agreement with the RFU next year.
Telegraph Sport can reveal that Sloan is heading up a private equity fund called Nue Equity that is attempting to buy the club from owner Mick Crossan.
He is also described as a founding general partner of Acceleration Equity, a sports-focused equity group that buys and sells professional sports franchises and investments.
Sloan, is a certified agent for National Basketball Association in the US, also ran his own athlete representation firm, between 2005-13, and a counsel for Californian law firm in the area of mergers and acquisitions and sports, media and entertainment.
However, while sources close to Sloan insist that the private equity fund is on course to meet the RFU requirements for the take-over to be complete by the deadline, there is said to be increasing frustration within both RFU and Premiership Rugby that the necessary details have yet to be provided.
Three former US basketball players, Julius Erving, Allen Iverson and Dikembe Mutombo, as well as Ray Lewis, a two-times NFL Super Bowl winner with Baltimore Ravens, are said to be involved in the ?leadership group? but there has been no clarity provided to the governing body as to whether the quartet are merely ambassadors or providing equity themselves.
The secrecy behind the consortium has only served to heighten concerns within the London Irish playing group and staff about whether the sale of the club, which has debts of over ?30 million, will go through.
Howard Thomas, the former PRL chief executive, who had been tasked with leading the negotiations has only added to the confusion as he works for a company called Redstrike, which is part of the Miami-based investment fund 777 Partners.
Last month Crossan had to step up at the 11th hour to prevent the players from serving the club with breach-of-contract letters after their salaries for April were not paid for six days despite daily promises that funds from the US, via a bridging loan, would be transferred.
The level of distrust in the playing group reached such a low point that the players demanded written evidence that medical insurance cover known as Rugbycare', was in place before they would take part in their final game of the season, against Exeter Chiefs. Premiership Rugby also underwrote the insurance cover ? having been prepared to advance funds to cover the premium, which reassured the players.
Crossan?s intervention was designed to ensure there was ?breathing space? for the deal to go ahead after the club came under pressure from the Rugby Players? Association to resolve the issue.
The fact that there is still no sign of those funds landing, nor proof of funds and other information required for the takeover to be approved by the RFU, has heightened fears that Irish could become the third Premiership club to go under this season, following the demise of Wasps and Worcester Warriors.
The fate of Irish will be key to Premiership Rugby?s plan to restructure the league to a 10-team competition. ?The proposed takeover of London Irish by an American consortium has led to a significant amount of uncertainty and speculation about the future of the club, which is having an impact on players, staff, and fans of the club,? said the RFU.
?As a result, the RFU, Premiership Rugby and the RPA are seeking to take action to obtain greater clarity on the future of London Irish. ?It is imperative that the club will be in a position to take its place in the Gallagher Premiership in season 2023/24, and to complete that season.
?This deadline (May 30) was set to give enough time for the buyers to provide the information needed and for the transaction to complete.?
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And Guardian -
London Irish at risk of Premiership ban after RFU sets deadline for takeover
RFU tells club to complete proposed takeover by 30 May
Fears of third top-flight team expulsion in eight months
Gerard Meagher
Mon 15 May 2023 19.39 BST
Last modified on Mon 15 May 2023 21.28 BST
London Irish will be suspended from next season?s Premiership unless the proposed takeover by a US consortium is completed by 30 May or the club provides proof of funding for the entire 2023-24 campaign, the Rugby Football Union has warned.
The ultimatum from the RFU comes amid fears the protracted takeover will drag on over the summer and into next season, and heightens the prospect of a third club being thrown out of the Premiership in eight months.
The RFU cited the need for certainty for players, staff and fans of the club and, although insiders have been hopeful the takeover will be completed, the RFU?s intervention is a deeply worrying sign given the impending deadline.
For Irish to avoid being kicked out of the Premiership, the takeover must be completed and approved by the RFU with the buyers undertaking to provide all required working capital to meet the club?s obligations for at least next season.
Failing that, the Exiles must demonstrate capacity to fund the club next term. Expulsion would be a colossal blow for the Premiership given the demises of Wasps and Worcester this season.
This month the current owner, Mick Crossan, finally stepped in to belatedly pay the players? April wages after the delay led the squad to consider boycotting their final match of the season, to demand physical proof they were insured to take part in it and to consider submitting breach-of-contract letters.
It remains to be seen if Crossan can continue to fund the club next term if the takeover is not completed before the RFU?s deadline, given Irish have debts of around ?30m and he has been looking to sell all season. That they are tenants of the Gtech Community Stadium makes them a less attractive proposition for investors, though their state-of-the-art training centre in Sunbury is an impressive asset.
Well-placed sources have expressed considerable scepticism that the takeover will go through, not least because financial clouds have been looming over Irish since October when staff members began actively seeking alternative employment. Against that backdrop their fifth-place finish was all the more impressive, but a trying campaign has taken its toll and the relief following their final match was apparent.
The RFU is evidently desperate to avoid a repeat of the Worcester situation, so too Premiership Rugby which, along with the union and the Rugby Players? Association, has been applying pressure on Irish to provide certainty.
There is desperation to avoid another club going bust even though a 10-team league has been identified as the optimal solution from 2024 onwards.
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Worcester?s problems surfaced last summer but they were allowed to begin the 2022-23 season, only to be thrown out in October. Wasps soon followed, plunging the Premiership into crisis.
An RFU statement read: ?If the club fails to meet these conditions it will be suspended from participating in the Premiership [and other competitions] in season 2023-24 to avoid a scenario where the club enters insolvency mid-season, with the corresponding and substantial impact that has on players, staff, and fans, as well as on the remainder of the league.?
The RFU went on to say that the deadline was set ?to give enough time for the buyers to provide the information needed and for the transaction to complete? but the clock is ticking, given that leaves the buyers only 10 working days. All the more so because the RFU is also under pressure to complete its due diligence after the chief executive, Bill Sweeney, was accused of being ?asleep on the job?.
Sweeney and Premiership Rugby?s Simon Massie-Taylor were blamed for ?failure on an epic scale? at a parliamentary inquiry into the demises of Worcester and Wasps.
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As mentioned, it is the secrecy within those funds that is the issue that the RFU have. It was the same with the Atlas - Warriors purchase.
These funds are offshore (outside the gaze of US tax authorities) and the uber rich do not want the US tax authorities finding their money, as US citizens are required to declare all earnings worldwide, but many (most?) rich Americans do not, thus illegally avoiding tax. Most of them have Trumpesque tax returns (almost NIL), which is clearly nonsense.
Now that the RFU are clamping down on who owns what, it is highly unlikely they would approve US 'based' fund ownership. One, it is not actually US based (more likely Bermuda), second, it is far from transparent as to where the money has and is coming from, and third, the beneficial 'owners' of the fund tend to hide behind third party individuals in (for example) Bermuda, which are merely fronts.
Money laundering anyone? It's the Russians buying Football League clubs all over again. I am amazed the RFU is appearing to be righteous about this, but, I have no problem with their stance. No more dodgy South African vineyards, really owned by goodness knows who (but I suspect Russians).
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The fund supposedly involved represents retired basketball stars, and that is not a sport much associated with Irish Americans.
The Boston Celtics were pretty good a long time ago, but I get your point :)
Wonder whether Crossan might sign up for another year if the deal can't be done in time?
The description of the potential new buyers & their inability to get the finance sorted over the last two months is not exactly a recommendation to the RFU is it?
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IRFU stepping in to save London Irish could be the perfect solution
If proposed American takeover fails then Irish becoming 'fifth province' once again makes sense for all concerned
Gavin Mairs
Chief Rugby Union Correspondent
17 May 2023 ? 8:00am
Could the answer to London Irish?s long-term future lie across the Irish Sea rather than the Atlantic? For now, it remains a hypothetical question.
A takeover by an American consortium, led by Californian lawyer Chip Sloan and backed by a private equity fund called Nue (in the process of being rebranded as True) is said to remain on course.
But with just 10 working days to the Rugby Football Union?s deadline for the deal to be approved and completed before the club are suspended from the Premiership next season unless they can prove they have the required funds in place, there is said to be a growing sense of dread within the playing group.
As of Tuesday, there was still no sign of proof of funds or other information critical to the takeover being approved by the RFU as part of its ?fit and proper? person test and due diligence.
The only track record to go on so far is that Sloan was previously in discussions with Saracens a couple of years ago, which stalled when former chairman Nigel Wray was seeking investment in the club. Wray would eventually sell the controlling interest to Dominic Silvester in a ?32 million takeover in June last year.
Given that the London Irish staff and players had been told the bridging loan required for the takeover to go through would be in place last month, only for the April payroll date to be missed, forcing owner Mick Crossan to pay their salaries, the sense of uncertainty is understandable.
Agents of London Irish players are understood to be already exploring potential options at French clubs as the only realistic transfers given Premiership salary-cap restrictions. Even if not all Premiership clubs have spent to the cap for next season, for those who have not there is little appetite to add to salary costs.
One can only hope it does not come to that. The staff and players deserve so much better, having punched above their weight to finish fifth in the Premiership this season. But at times like this, it is more about people than points. These employees all have financial commitments, and many also have financial dependents.
As the RFU said in a statement on Monday, the proposed takeover had led to ?a significant amount of uncertainty and speculation about the future of the club, which is having an impact on players, staff and fans of the club.? Just imagine the impact if the club go under.
There is history at stake here, too. London Irish were formed 125 years ago, first with the intention to ?provide a home from home for wandering Irish men and women regardless of creed or politics and a welcoming and hospitable venue to entertain rugby players and supporters from all over the world?.
Its academy has long been regarded as one of the finest in England, and boasts a rich history of developing international players even if the club have often not had the resources to retain them.
At certain periods, the club have also been home for Ireland internationals based in England.
Indeed, it was the decision by the club to sign a host of Irish internationals, including Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall and the RFU?s professional rugby director Conor O?Shea, when the game turned professional in 1995 that would force the Irish Rugby Football Union to embrace professionalism, using their provincial system to eventually bring their players ?back home?.
Which brings us to the IRFU. The plight of what once was known as the ?fifth province? must surely have not gone unnoticed in the offices on Lansdowne Road.
At a time when David Nucifora, the IRFU performance director, has spoken about the need to create more playing opportunities for the bottleneck of talent within the Irish academy system, taking control of London Irish if the American deal does not complete could provide a perfect solution.
Five years ago, the Scottish Rugby Union looked at taking a 20 per cent stake in Newcastle Falcons, having also considered buying Worcester Warriors, so there is something of a precedent here, although any move would have to be agreed and welcomed by the RFU.
If such a move might require a loosening of the English-qualified system if the IRFU wanted to bring through their own players, the upside for the Premiership is that it could bring a vibrancy to the club and tap into the exile community to a greater extent that the current club have been able to do so.
Those who remember the season when Irish were able to field a nearly all-Ireland international side in the 1990s would testify to that sentiment. Irish sponsors and investors could also be attracted to shore up the finances.
The IRFU offered a diplomatic response to the question. ?We are aware of challenges faced by some clubs and hope that they can be resolved with a positive outcome for all involved, especially the players, staff and supporters,? an IRFU spokesman said. ?The IRFU is not currently contemplating investing outside of Ireland.?
The RFU, when also contacted to see if there would be any objection in principle to the IRFU investing in the club, also offered a tactful response saying only that it would not speculate.
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That article seems full of nothing but wishful thinking.
Presumably any investment would come at the cost of IRFU investment in Irish rugby, which is unlikely to go down well
Can't see the RFU being very happy at another governing body getting involved either, and they would have to sanction it.
can't see it happening personally.
If the US buyout doesnt happen, which also looks unlikley IMO, I expect poor Mick Crossan to end up having to fork out for another year. From what LI supporters say about him he seems a genuine fan, I can't see him watching LI go down the pan.
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That article seems full of nothing but wishful thinking.
Presumably any investment would come at the cost of IRFU investment in Irish rugby, which is unlikely to go down well
Can't see the RFU being very happy at another governing body getting involved either, and they would have to sanction it.
can't see it happening personally.
If the US buyout doesnt happen, which also looks unlikley IMO, I expect poor Mick Crossan to end up having to fork out for another year. From what LI supporters say about him he seems a genuine fan, I can't see him watching LI go down the pan.
It all depends how his personal finances are.
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Can't see the RFU PRL loosening the EQP rules for matchday squads seeing as they have been going down the route of tightening them of late.
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That article seems full of nothing but wishful thinking.
Presumably any investment would come at the cost of IRFU investment in Irish rugby, which is unlikely to go down well
Can't see the RFU being very happy at another governing body getting involved either, and they would have to sanction it.
can't see it happening personally.
If the US buyout doesnt happen, which also looks unlikley IMO, I expect poor Mick Crossan to end up having to fork out for another year. From what LI supporters say about him he seems a genuine fan, I can't see him watching LI go down the pan.
^^ This
A total space filler from a journo who must have been on something when he wrote it.
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It all depends how his personal finances are.
True, but given he seems happy (allegedly) to sell for ?1 & keeps paying the wages, he doesnt seem in need of cash (google says he was worth ?45 m in 202) The stories all seem to be around he's just had enough & thinks someone else needs to pick up the baton.
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It all depends how his personal finances are.
True, but given he seems happy (allegedly) to sell for ?1 & keeps paying the wages, he doesnt seem in need of cash (google says he was worth ?45 m in 202) The stories all seem to be around he's just had enough & thinks someone else needs to pick up the baton.
Being happy to walk away from monies owed is different to ploughing in even more with little chance of seeing it again. Perhaps he has reached his maximum.
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And you have to wonder what?s in it for new owners, especially a fund that needs to see a return, if the current owner can?t even make it wash its face.
What insight could they bring to turn round that he and his advisers haven?t seen?
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And you have to wonder what?s in it for new owners, especially a fund that needs to see a return, if the current owner can?t even make it wash its face.
What insight could they bring to turn round that he and his advisers haven?t seen?
Especially as they look like being booted from Brentford.
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London Irish players talking to other teams amid fears club will go under
Exclusive: French clubs circling with proposed takeover by American investor Alfred 'Chip' Sloan running out of time
By
Gavin Mairs,
CHIEF RUGBY UNION CORRESPONDENT
21 May 2023 ? 3:46pm
London Irish players are understood to be in talks with other clubs, mainly in France, amid mounting fears there is little hope of a takeover by a US consortium going through in time to save the club.
Irish, who have debts of more than ?30million, have been set a deadline of May 30 by the Rugby Football Union to prove that they have completed an approved takeover, or provide evidence that they have the funds to complete next season. If they cannot meet that deadline, they will be suspended from the Premiership, becoming the third club lost to the competition this season.
Telegraph Sport revealed last Monday that the man behind the US consortium attempting to buy the club is Alfred 'Chip' Sloan, a former sports agent and California-based lawyer, who expressed an interest in investing in Saracens two years ago. Sloan heads up a private equity fund called Nue Equity, which is being rebranded as True Equity, that is attempting to buy the club from owner Mick Crossan.
However the RFU and Premiership Rugby have yet to receive any proof of funds and other details required for the fit and proper person test and due diligence and there is little confidence among senior figures that the club will be saved from going under ? the fate suffered by Wasps and Worcester earlier in the season.
Players cannot leave the club until it has been proved that the club is in breach of contract, however it is thought that some may have already signed "pre-contracts" with new clubs that will come into effect if Irish go to the wall.
"Everyone is chatting to other clubs," said a source close to the players. "France is the most likely destination because with play-off games all in the next few weeks, the clubs that are going up and down will be known and then they will be finalising squads."
There will be few options for players to move to other Premiership clubs as those with the financial resources to pay them will have already spent their salary cap for next season and those who still have some wiggle room do not have the appetite to increase their salary bill.
It is understood there has been no further update provided to the players about the status of the takeover.
"The only response given to those who request to settle their outstanding invoices is that the club are not in a position to do so now but fully expect to be able to in the very near future," said another source.
Premiership Rugby was already planning to reduce the league to 10 clubs for the start of the 2024/25 season (from 13 at the start of the 2022/23 season) and are drawing up plans to fast-track that for the start of next season if the deal with Sloan's consortium does not go through.
A source close to the consortium said there was still a huge amount of work going on behind the scenes and that it was always likely to take until the end of May to complete.
It is understood that Sloan's interest in Saracens, which came when Nigel Wray was seeking investment, quickly stalled, with Wray eventually selling the controlling interest to Dominic Silvester in a ?32 million takeover in June last year.
The only other possible salvation for London Irish is if the Irish Rugby Football Union, who have stated their desire to create more playing opportunities for the bottleneck of talent within the Irish academy system, step in to take control of the club. That scenario however would require approval by the RFU, and would bring a host of complex issues to resolve, including England's elite player squad agreement and English-qualified player payments.
Crossan was forced to pay the club's salaries for April to prevent the players from serving the club with breach-of-contract letters after they were not paid for six days despite daily promises that funds from the US, via a bridging loan, would be transferred.
The intervention was designed to ensure there was "breathing space" for the deal to go ahead after the club came under pressure from the Rugby Players' Association to resolve the issue.
Now, with just six business days left for a deal to be approved, it seems it is going to go right to the wire.
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Just now in the Times:
Why London Irish 'need a miracle' to avoid collapse
Exiles on the brink of being third Premiership club to go out of business this season
Will Kelleher, Alex Lowe
Monday May 22 2023, 9.45pm, The Times
London Irish are on the brink of collapse. The RFU has set the club a hard deadline of May 30 to prove their viability for next season or be suspended from the English league pyramid.
One of two things must happen by next Tuesday if London Irish, who do not own their stadium and are saddled with ?30 million of debt, are to be saved:
● a proposed takeover by an American consortium, which has been in discussion since last October, is completed and approved by the RFU;
● the present owners of the club demonstrate they will continue to fund London Irish through the 2023-24 season.
Fail and London Irish will become the third professional club this season to collapse, after Worcester Warriors and Wasps.
Will London Irish survive?
Not one senior official in the English game has any confidence that the takeover will amount to anything. The consortium has missed multiple deadlines set by the RFU to provide key documentation, including proof of funds.
The RFU must approve any takeover and the union first requested information from the prospective owners five months ago.
It has emerged in recent days that the consortium is headed up by Alfred 'Chip' Sloan, an American former sports agent who previously expressed an interest in buying Saracens but did not close the deal. A group of former NBA and NFL players are part of the consortium?s leadership team.
One industry source said that the deal should have been thrown out on day one if the consortium was unable to demonstrate its funds, business plan and investors from the outset.
It is understood that the RFU has been frustrated by a series of unfulfilled commitments from the consortium, including statements that payments had been sent when they had not.
The consortium has insisted that there will be 'big progress' in the coming days but was unable to provide any evidence to support its 'great positivity'.
Regarding the second demand, there is a widespread expectation that Mick Crossan, who owns London Irish via his company, Powerday, will not be prepared to continue bankrolling the club.
The average losses of a Gallagher Premiership club each year are ?4 million. London Irish do not have the facility to generate income outside match days because they do not own a stadium.
In March, Crossan had to find emergency funds to cover the club?s monthly wage bill of ?500,000. The April salaries were paid a week late, minutes before the players were due to hand in breach-of-contract letters.
The most likely situation now is that Irish are suspended next Tuesday and drop out of the league, meaning the Premiership becomes a ten-team division a year earlier than planned.
'We need a miracle, one source said.
'I think it?s game over,' added another.
What happens after May 30?
The prospective buyers must state to the RFU in the next few days who the owners of the club would be, so that an external agency can complete a due diligence check before the May 30 deadline passes.
If the deadline is not met, London Irish will be suspended from the Premiership and could drop into administration, with the players permitted to leave. The club themselves, or one of their creditors, can place them into administration, not the RFU.
Player and staff salaries are due on May 31. If the wages are not paid and the club are still a going concern, players would have to submit breach-of-contract letters to be able to leave. That would give the club 14 days to come up with the money before players can walk away.
However, the players have been in discussions with the Rugby Players Association (RPA) trying to clarify whether they could leave immediately after the club are suspended. Matt Rogerson, the club captain, has been leading the discussions with club executives and the RPA.
The Times revealed that players have been lining up moves elsewhere for a number of weeks. It is understood that some of Irish?s England internationals have a 'respectable queue of quality employers' ready to sign them; others have secured provisional moves to France.
Could London Irish return if they are bought out after the deadline?
If this situation follows the Wasps blueprint from October, the collapse of the club could be brutally quick. Wasps entered administration and made 167 people redundant on the same day.
With other Premiership squads tight and the salary cap reduced to ?5 million, from ?6.4 million, there will be little room for a swathe of London Irish players in the league.
One idea is that the surviving ten Premiership clubs could be given dispensation to sign Irish players and afforded extra salary cap space. A benevolent fund could also be set up for unemployed players.
London Irish can be bought out from administration. If that happens, they would not be eligible for the 2023-24 season in any league.
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Bet Tom Collins wishes he had signed his offer at Saints now.
There really isn?t a club out there now for any young player to sign for in the hope they could play a full career as a one club man. Best heading off to France now.
Really terrible news but it?s easy to see more falling into trouble next season
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Really terrible news but it?s easy to see more falling into trouble next season
Or even over the summer. With no matchday income coming in, and most advanced season tickets will have been bought by the end of May, the clubs will be very cashflow negative for 4 months for wages, will have to have cleared any outstanding trade debts by then, and will have the outflow of any stadium work that needs doing (like pitch work). I imagine it is when clubs lose most of the ?5m/year losses.
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I?ve worked on the periphery of some very large telecoms deals, purchases and direct investment, in a number of countries doing technical due diligence. The one thing big investors look at most seriously is political risk. They kn?pf they can sack management if things aren?t going well but there?s not a lot they can do if the politicians and/or regulators suddenly change the rules.
To that end they look mostly for stability and competence and the interest paid, if investments or loans are made, is heavily geared by their perception of that risk. Wasps investors appear to have walked away because of the RFU and my guess is LI are having a similar problem looking for new investors.
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If London Irish fail, will Newcastle be far behind.
And how will Exeter and other clubs who want just 10 Premiership teams feel about having just 8? 4 fewer home matches will have a big impact on their finances.
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If London Irish fail, will Newcastle be far behind.
And how will Exeter and other clubs who want just 10 Premiership teams feel about having just 8? 4 fewer home matches will have a big impact on their finances.
Four less home games could easily lose clubs like Chiefs as much as ?2m, but, they could slim their squad, as they would not need the depth for fewer games.
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I do wonder how the RFU and PRL would approach administration of a fourth club.
Would they pull out all the stops to save and keep it in the Prem, thereby incurring the wrath of Wasps, Worcs and LI.
Would they promote Jersey do fill the gap, making a mockery of the rules on ground requirements?
Or would they suddenly decide an 8 team league is the way forward.
My guess is that the only thing we can be sure of at this stage is that neither the RFU nor the PRL will have considered this eventuality. Instead they?ll continue to make it up as they go along.
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Provided they can plan a proper season around a set number of teams, I don't think it would be a huge problem. The issue come swhen you planned for 13 and end up with 11.
If you can plan a season for 10, or 8, you can arrange other competitions or block out rest weeks etc to make it work.
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Provided they can plan a proper season around a set number of teams, I don't think it would be a huge problem. The issue come swhen you planned for 13 and end up with 11.
If you can plan a season for 10, or 8, you can arrange other competitions or block out rest weeks etc to make it work.
Yes, but there's still the problem of those Clubs that remain getting enough income to make them profitable, or at least not making too much of a loss that causes their benefactors from pulling out.
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Provided they can plan a proper season around a set number of teams, I don't think it would be a huge problem. The issue come swhen you planned for 13 and end up with 11.
If you can plan a season for 10, or 8, you can arrange other competitions or block out rest weeks etc to make it work.
Yes, but there's still the problem of those Clubs that remain getting enough income to make them profitable, or at least not making too much of a loss that causes their benefactors from pulling out.
For what my opinion is worth (not much!) I think the RFU/PRL are damned if they do and damned if they don't now.
They'll either upset Wasps and WW, certain Championship clubs or both with whatever they do.
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Provided they can plan a proper season around a set number of teams, I don't think it would be a huge problem. The issue come swhen you planned for 13 and end up with 11.
If you can plan a season for 10, or 8, you can arrange other competitions or block out rest weeks etc to make it work.
Yes, but there's still the problem of those Clubs that remain getting enough income to make them profitable, or at least not making too much of a loss that causes their benefactors from pulling out.
For what my opinion is worth (not much!) I think the RFU/PRL are damned if they do and damned if they don't now.
They'll either upset Wasps and WW, certain Championship clubs or both with whatever they do.
However you can discount both Wasps and WW fans because they no longer matter.
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I think the RFU/PRL are damned if they do and damned if they don't now.
Agreed. They have made their own bed to lie in. Which, I would suggest, dooms them to failure. Not a matter of if, but when. Painful to watch, but they have already kicked us out, so I sort of don't care any more.
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Report in the Standard:
Kind of explain why a bunch of retired American sportsmen might be interested in buying it.
But I suspect a LOT of speculation rather than facts.
"Fears have been raised that London Irish?s ailing takeover could see the club?s Hazelwood training ground turned into an NFL franchise base.
Sources close to the club have revealed concerns that the long-term aim of proposed investors would be to pave the way for the Hazelwood facility to be sold to either the NFL itself, or a London franchise.
Jacksonville Jaguars have long been tipped to make the leap across from the US to become the first overseas NFL franchise.
Irish?s state-of-the-art Hazelwood facility has hosted NFL teams in the UK and could fit the bill for an eventual training home should a team set up full-time shop in London.
Two-time Super Bowl winner and ex-Baltimore Raven Ray Lewis numbers among the consortium of former NFL and NBA stars bidding to buy London Irish from Powerday founder Mick Crossan.
Irish have until Monday to complete the takeover or prove funds for the full 2023/24 season, or face being booted out of the league structure by the RFU.
?The longer this has dragged on the more everyone has begun to worry,? a source close to the club told Standard Sport. ?The Hazelwood training ground is an amazing facility that everyone at the club rightly prizes.
?But right at the front of questions being asked is how would a new group of investors benefit from buying the club. Hazelwood is the top asset and the links to the NFL are clear.
?The players and staff have repeatedly been told that the deal is close to being completed, but the deadline is looming and still no one has been given any detailed information or concrete assurance that the takeover will be completed in time.?
Irish are inching ever closer to becoming the third Premiership team to go bust this season, with the consortium led by US investment firm NUE Capital still understood to be battling to secure financing to complete the deal.
The entrepreneurial group, including Lewis and former NBA stars Julius Erving, Allen Iverson and Dikembe Mutombo, are still yet to hand over any detailed information to the RFU on their takeover deal.
Industry experts have told Standard Sport there would still be time to complete the deal ahead of the deadline.
The consortium aiming to complete the Exiles takeover insist that their full focus remains on completing the deal to take charge of the Premiership outfit.
?Everything about London Irish will be bigger and better, the consortium partners remain entirely confident,? said a spokesperson for the Exiles? prospective new owners.
?Everyone is working around the clock to complete the transaction, and working towards the deadline that the consortium has been aware of for some time.
?There are no plans other than to complete the takeover and to drive London Irish forward.?
Irish?s players and staff went unpaid for six days at the start of the month, after the prospective owners failed to deliver their promise of covering the payroll costs.
Crossan stepped in to pay the overdue wages, but only after significant pressure from both Premiership Rugby and the RFU ? and Irish?s players threatening to submit breach-of-contract notices.
Irish?s players are trying to tee up escape routes if the worst happens and the club goes bust."
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Industry experts have told Standard Sport there would still be time to complete the deal ahead of the deadline.
They obviously haven't dealt with the RFU!!
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I don't think the deal will get done. Why should it?
In a few days, Crossan will likely let the club go under. An administrator would likely sell Hazlewood to the Americans, pay all the creditors, including Crossan. If the rugby creditors get paid, Irish would be allowed to play in the Championship.
Gives Irish a reboot, leaves them without a ground, training ground or players. With just a few weeks to get started, or maybe the RFU will let them start again a year later?
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If the rugby creditors get paid, Irish would be allowed to play in the Championship.
Surely they would also need to show clear management, finances & business plans etc etc?
Just paying rugby creditors won't be enough & there won't be time to get all that arranged to the RFU's satisfaction for the Champ to organise next season
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If the rugby creditors get paid, Irish would be allowed to play in the Championship.
Surely they would also need to show clear management, finances & business plans etc etc?
Just paying rugby creditors won't be enough & there won't be time to get all that arranged to the RFU's satisfaction for the Champ to organise next season
The Championship requires far fewer resources and can be pro, semi pro or entirely amateur, yes? Ready for next season? Not a chance.
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If London Irish fail, will Newcastle be far behind.
And how will Exeter and other clubs who want just 10 Premiership teams feel about having just 8? 4 fewer home matches will have a big impact on their finances.
And then what will happen with TV rights? Not sure how long is left on the current BT deal, but until recently, BT had 22 weekends of regular premiership rugby per season, with plans for that to go up to 26 under the proposed 14 team league that was previously thought to be the solution to club rugby's financial woes. The new 10 team solution offers only 18, fewer still if more fall by the wayside, so I'm sure BT will be seeking to renegotiate pretty swiftly regardless of when the current deal runs out, since the terms of that deal have changed significantly, and they are no longer getting as much for their money.
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If London Irish fail, will Newcastle be far behind.
And how will Exeter and other clubs who want just 10 Premiership teams feel about having just 8? 4 fewer home matches will have a big impact on their finances.
And then what will happen with TV rights? Not sure how long is left on the current BT deal, but until recently, BT had 22 weekends of regular premiership rugby per season, with plans for that to go up to 26 under the proposed 14 team league that was previously thought to be the solution to club rugby's financial woes. The new 10 team solution offers only 18, fewer still if more fall by the wayside, so I'm sure BT will be seeking to renegotiate pretty swiftly regardless of when the current deal runs out, since the terms of that deal have changed significantly, and they are no longer getting as much for their money.
TNT from July. Don't think the Yanks take to reduced output too kindly.
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I hope the new TV deal is much worse to reflect the fewer fans watching.
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Or TNT drop the PRL coverage, as Eurosport doesn't have any Rugby Union coverage. The whole point of the merger was to offer more of the really popular sports under one umbrella, like more soccer. For them, the PRL would be too small to bother with.
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I did read that the current Sunset + Vine contract has been beaten by Gary Neville's company at half the price. So quality has to change.
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I did read that the current Sunset + Vine contract has been beaten by Gary Neville's company at half the price. So quality has to change.
Well, that must have upset Sunset + Vine. More than a million cheaper, for a season. Wow.
Maybe TNT are serious about rugby then?
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I did read that the current Sunset + Vine contract has been beaten by Gary Neville's company at half the price. So quality has to change.
Well, that must have upset Sunset + Vine. More than a million cheaper, for a season. Wow.
Maybe TNT are serious about rugby then?
From 2024/25 season
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I can?t see that Irish have a cat in hells chance. Their best option seems to be Crossan continuing to bankroll them but he doesn?t seem keen. If he doesn?t I don?t think the RFU could even turn round an analysis of their business case in time for the Championship.
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The last deal with BT sport was signed in Dec 2020 and was for 3 years, so the 21/22, 22/23, 23/24 seasons, so next year is the last, it was less than the previous contract dropping from ?40M/season to ?110M for 3, so not a huge drop (40 down to 36.66).
The interesting bit was the comment
Under the deal, the network will continue to air up to 80 live matches ? including 69 Premiership Rugby fixtures and 11 Premiership Rugby Cup ties ? until 2024.
With the old 13 team league over 24 weekends and the semi's and final that comes to 75 live games with 3 matches per weekend so the odd weekend with only 2 and the 69 was easy to reach.
However with a 10 team league and 18 weekends they will never reach that, 3 per weekend plus semi's and final is only 57.
I know the statement says 'upto' but that is a lot of lost live broadcast hours they would have to fill from elsewhere, which will cost them money to do so, so I wouldn't be surprised if there are discussions ongoing for the final year of the contract as Premiership rugby must be breaching the T&C's by reducing the number of weekends. Plus a Premiership match can't be replaced by a cup game as the standard and interest will be less.
Going into the following season, the contract won't be as highly paid, and with CVC taking their big cut, the payout to the teams will be a lot less. They can only have been getting a a million or so each per season anyway with the current contract. If the Rob Baxters etc think a smaller league will get them more money they are in for a shock.
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To be fair to Baxter he was mostly talking about player welfare and the quality of matches. I suspect Rowe has a different view.
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London Irish players told takeover is going ahead as deadline looms
Exclusive: Club staff told that deal with US buyer is progressing but with only four days until deadline no funds are in sight
By Charlie Morgan, Senior Rugby Writer 26 May 2023 ? 4:40pm
London Irish players have been assured that negotiations over a takeover deal remain active, but no funds have materialised with just four days until the Rugby Football Union?s deadline.
In an email to club staff from acting chief executive Adrian Alli, which has been seen by Telegraph Sport, it was said that current owner Mick Crossan has been working around the clock in order to ?progress? a deal with US buyers.
It is also understood that there is a meeting scheduled between the London Irish squad, the Rugby Players? Association and representatives from the RFU on Friday evening. Players and staff received their wages for April late, and only after Crossan stepped in to stump up the finances.
?The deal is still active, with Mick speaking to the US into the night and early hours of the morning to progress,? reads the email from Alli, which was sent just after 2pm on Friday.
?We have not received the funds as yet, nor confirmation of the funds, but have had email communication this morning to indicate that these are expected imminently and now have more details over the remitting bank.
?I have no detail as to the reason for the delay other than needing to go through certain approvals for fund release.?
Earlier this month, the RFU imposed a deadline of May 30 for the takeover to be completed or for the current ownership to show evidence that Irish could be funded through next season. Failure to do so could result in the club being suspended from participation in the Premiership and any other competitions.
Telegraph Sport has previously revealed that the head of the US consortium aiming to buy Irish is Alfred ?Chip? Sloan, a California-based lawyer and former sports agent.
Staff are due to be paid by Wednesday next week and leading players have already begun to put in place alternative options for next season in case the takeover deal does not go through.
The US consortium has remained shrouded in secrecy, with three former NBA basketball players, Julius Erving, Allen Iverson and Dikembe Mutombo, as well as Ray Lewis, a double Super Bowl winner with Baltimore Ravens in the NFL, said to be involved in its ?leadership group?.
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Remember, the deal has to go through, money has to arrive, and the RFU have to perform due diligence, in what remains as one working day.
We have heard it all before. Enid Blyton wrote more believable bedtime stories that I read to my daughter when she was young.
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After that fluff piece, the Daily Fail breathe a sense of reality on things:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/article-12129371/London-Irish-players-told-prepare-clubs-suspension-Premiership-week.html
London Irish players told to prepare for the cash-strapped club's suspension from the Premiership NEXT WEEK... which means they will have to seek employment elsewhere in latest blow to crisis club
By CHRIS FOY FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 18:35, 26 May 2023 | UPDATED: 18:44, 26 May 2023
- London Irish players have been told club could be suspended next week
- If London Irish are suspended players will have to seek employment elsewhere
- Owner Mick Crossan didn't attend a virtual meeting on Friday evening
London Irish players have been told to prepare for the club to be suspended from the Premiership next week, which will mean they have to seek employment elsewhere.
The demise of the Exiles now seems inevitable after the squad's virtual meeting on Friday evening with representatives from the RFU, Premiership Rugby and the players' union, the RPA. Mail Sport understands that current owner Mick Crossan was invited but did not participate - which does not suggest he is prepared to fund Irish through next season. And players were told that there is still no clarity in English rugby's corridors of power about their prospective new owners.
Going into a long weekend, ahead of Tuesday's deadline set by the RFU for a take-over or for Crossan to commit to fund the 2023-24 campaign, there has still been no proof of finance to be used by an American consortium to buy the debt-laden club. As was made clear to the Exiles squad, there is now no expectation at all that there will be an 11th-hour breakthrough or reprieve.
After several months of negotiations, the stark reality which was explained to Irish players is that the long-anticipated purchase of the club by a group including former American NFL and NBA stars has not progressed as had been hoped. This was even conceded in an internal email sent to staff by chief executive Adrian Alli, which has been seen by Mail Sport.
While he claimed that 'the deal is still active', he also admitted 'we have received no funds as yet, nor confirmation of funds' and added: 'I have no detail as to the reason for the delay'. Alli went on to state that Crossan wished to arrange a meeting with players and staff next week, but by then the most likely scenario is that it would be a meeting to confirm that the worst-case scenario has come to pass.
If Irish are suspended from competition by the RFU, it would represent another dismal development at the end of a season of turmoil in the domestic game. They would become the third club to be forced out of the Premiership in the space of eight months - following the collapse of Worcester and Wasps last autumn - despite a successful on-field campaign which saw Declan Kidney's side finish fifth in the table.
It would mean the top division being reduced to 10 teams; a streamlined model which has been coveted by many within the club game for some time. It would also mean the likes of England wing Henry Arundell, Red Rose centre Will Joseph and emerging World Cup candidate, flanker Tom Pearson, being among those forced to move on.
A host of clubs in France and in this country are poised to sign the leading Exiles, but some will struggle to secure new deals in a saturated market, at this time of year. It is a grim fate for players who performed admirably all season against a backdrop of turbulence behind the scenes, and regular concerns about whether wages would be paid - culminating in a late intervention by Crossan last month, to prevent players submitting breach-of-contract letters.
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The first one is based on email correspondence this morning. The second on a leak from a meeting with players this afternoon. Just a big f' up.
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How can both Massie Taylor and Bil Sweeny have the face to stay in their roles. Must both be amoral.
Time for the DCMS to call them in again, tell them that they should have insisted on full financial transparency of all clubs following the Saracens affair (though admittedly pre Massie Taylor time) or not be allowed in the Premiership or championship untill they agreed, and tell them both to resign.
They still seem to be asleep on the job. And Sweeny is paid how much to doze?? (I have read over?750k, in which case he must be costing considerably more when 'ers NI at 13.8% travel, and other expenses are added in)
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Catching Up with Foy -
Hope fading at London Irish as players told to prepare for club's suspension by RFU
There was growing pessimism over proposed takeover at meeting on Friday evening
By Charlie Morgan, Senior Rugby Writer 26 May 2023 ? 9:33pm
Hope is fading at London Irish, with players told to prepare for the club to be suspended by the Rugby Football Union if it fails to meet next Tuesday?s deadline on a takeover deal.
Representatives from the RFU, the Rugby Players? Association and Premiership Rugby, in the shape of chief executive Simon Massie-Taylor, joined a meeting with club staff on Friday evening.
There, despite assurances from an Irish figurehead that the takeover was ?active? just hours earlier via email, growing pessimism was spelled out. As far as the RFU is concerned, ?zero progression? has been made. There remains a lack of information over the funds of the US consortium purportedly interested in acquiring the club from Mick Crossan.
Crossan himself is thought to have been invited to join the meeting, but was not involved, raising further questions over his willingness to finance the club if the consortium?s takeover falls through.
The prospect of a third Premiership club going to the wall within a year, following Worcester Warriors and Wasps to leave more players and staff thrust into unemployment, is becoming more real. Indeed, a source suggested that many front-line players at Irish ?have things lined up?.
Henry Arundell, the explosive 20-year-old who made his first England start against Ireland in the Six Nations, would be a prize recruit for any Premiership rivals with room under the salary cap. Back-rowers Tom Pearson and Matt Rogerson, like Arundell in contention to make Steve Borthwick?s World Cup training squad, are two more leading lights at Irish.
Earlier on Friday, shortly after 2pm, staff were told that over a takeover deal remained ?active?, but that no funds have materialised with just four days until the RFU?s deadline of May 30.
In an email to club staff from acting chief executive Adrian Alli, which has been seen by Telegraph Sport, it was said that Crossan has been working around the clock in order to ?progress? a deal with US buyers. However, it was conceded that clarity over the required funds was still forthcoming.
?The deal is still active, with Mick speaking to the US into the night and early hours of the morning to progress,? reads the email from Alli.
?We have not received the funds as yet, nor confirmation of the funds, but have had email communication this morning to indicate that these are expected imminently and now have more details over the remitting bank.
?I have no detail as to the reason for the delay other than needing to go through certain approvals for fund release.?
The email then suggested that a Zoom call between Crossan and the squad would be set up for next week in order to shed further light on an increasingly bleak situation.
Earlier this month, the RFU imposed a deadline of May 30 for the takeover to be completed or for the current ownership to show evidence that Irish could be funded through next season. Failure to do so would result in the club being suspended from participation in the Premiership and any other competitions.
Telegraph Sport has previously revealed that the head of the US consortium aiming to buy Irish is Alfred ?Chip? Sloan, a California-based lawyer and former sports agent. Players and staff at Irish are due to be paid by next Wednesday, having only received their wages for April late after Crossan stumped up to pay them.
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The Good the bad and the rugby podcast had Massy Taylor on this week, worth a listen to really understand how far his head is buried in the sand.
According to him currently the premiership has a soft salary cap, as opposed to the hard one in France, and the average, yes average spend, in the premiership this season is ?7.5M. This is vs the hard cap of approx ?9.3M in France, and he hopes to close the gap by increasing it in season 2024/25.
By increasing the cap it allows space for clubs to lure back players like Jack Willis, he was very coy about tv deals but it was all ploughed back into premiership rugby, although I assume he means the company as opposed to the actual rugby, to help pay the money they owe CVC every year.
I ended up getting more angry at his lack of understand of just what was happening and I have no idea what he thinks will cover the budgets in future.
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Will they be stripped of their P Share like we were?
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Will they be stripped of their P Share like we were?
If they go - they bloody well should be.
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Will they be stripped of their P Share like we were?
The wolves will have been circulating it for weeks.
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Not sure a one-tenth P share in a shrunken premiership will be worth as much as the p shares in the old 30% larger premiership
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Not sure a one-tenth P share in a shrunken premiership will be worth as much as the p shares in the old 30% larger premiership
AIUI for next year the remains clubs will get 1/11 of remaking TV money instead of 1/14 or 1/15 if it had gone to 14 clubs.
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Not sure a one-tenth P share in a shrunken premiership will be worth as much as the p shares in the old 30% larger premiership
AIUI for next year the remains clubs will get 1/11 of remaking TV money instead of 1/14 or 1/15 if it had gone to 14 clubs.
Bigger amount to CVC - for doing f all.
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Irish can?t possibly turn this round in one day. PRL are no doubt happy as it delivers them their new target of 10 teams. But it?s essentially the end for an already dead league.
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Not sure a one-tenth P share in a shrunken premiership will be worth as much as the p shares in the old 30% larger premiership
AIUI for next year the remains clubs will get 1/11 of remaking TV money instead of 1/14 or 1/15 if it had gone to 14 clubs.
Bigger amount to CVC - for doing f all.
Providing capital that the Prem has squandered isn?t f all.
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Not sure a one-tenth P share in a shrunken premiership will be worth as much as the p shares in the old 30% larger premiership
AIUI for next year the remains clubs will get 1/11 of remaking TV money instead of 1/14 or 1/15 if it had gone to 14 clubs.
Bigger amount to CVC - for doing f all.
Providing capital that the Prem has squandered isn?t f all.
Yes bit since then what have they done bar sit back and watch implosion.
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What's the odds on Arundel to Saracens...
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What's the odds on Arundel to Saracens...
Short
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What's the odds on Arundel to Saracens...
Just Arundell?
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Remember, it's a soft salary cap
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Arundell will probably go to Brizzle, I mean if Elliott Daly is on the bench for Salarycens then surely they don't need another back 3 player?
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Arundell will probably go to Brizzle, I mean if Elliott Daly is on the bench for Salarycens then surely they don't need another back 3 player?
When has that stopped them!
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Arundell will probably go to Brizzle, I mean if Elliott Daly is on the bench for Salarycens then surely they don't need another back 3 player?
But when money is no object having Daly and Arundel on the bench means they aren?t playing against you in 2/18 fixtures nor in the semi or final.
The only issue is what is the price to get a top international sitting on a bench and happy not starting more than 4 or 5 times a season.
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Arundell will probably go to Brizzle, I mean if Elliott Daly is on the bench for Salarycens then surely they don't need another back 3 player?
But when money is no object having Daly and Arundel on the bench means they aren?t playing against you in 2/18 fixtures nor in the semi or final.
The only issue is what is the price to get a top international sitting on a bench and happy not starting more than 4 or 5 times a season.
I don't know anyone at Leinster to ask :)
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Arundell will probably go to Brizzle, I mean if Elliott Daly is on the bench for Salarycens then surely they don't need another back 3 player?
But when money is no object having Daly and Arundel on the bench means they aren?t playing against you in 2/18 fixtures nor in the semi or final.
The only issue is what is the price to get a top international sitting on a bench and happy not starting more than 4 or 5 times a season.
It'll be less than the nothing he'll be earning on the dole once Irish go under.
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Have you lot learnt nothing? The price is merely the pride in the Sarries shirt, the opportunity to win things, the chance to run out in front of their 4,000 fans?..ok not the last one. They don?t pay these guys. If they did there is a danger they would exceed the cap which they?d never do. Let?s just enjoy Sarries being back and winning things. To dig any deeper would be so inconvenient.
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Arundell will probably go to Brizzle, I mean if Elliott Daly is on the bench for Salarycens then surely they don't need another back 3 player?
But when money is no object having Daly and Arundel on the bench means they aren?t playing against you in 2/18 fixtures nor in the semi or final.
The only issue is what is the price to get a top international sitting on a bench and happy not starting more than 4 or 5 times a season.
I don't know anyone at Leinster to ask :)
fair point, but not quite analogous because they?re centrally contracted and managed by IRFU plus the nationalist element of competing in a multi country league reduces options.
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Don't forget there's something special happening at Saracens, so not only will pride in the shirt be worth it for Arundel (and whoever else they cherry pick), but a 'profit making' business for a pound and a house will help that pride along as he sits on the bench for their 2nd International XV.
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London Irish to be suspended from Premiership as offers made for Henry Arundell and Tom Pearson
Exclusive: RFU imposed a deadline of May 30 for Irish to complete a takeover or provide proof of funding for the entire 2023/24 campaign
By
Charlie Morgan,
SENIOR RUGBY WRITER
29 May 2023 ? 5:48pm
Tom Pearson - London Irish to be suspended from Premiership as club offers made for Henry Arundell and Tom Pearso
London Irish are set to be suspended by the Rugby Football Union on Wednesday, leaving their players scrambling for employment ahead of next season.
The chaos has also led to calls from Championship clubs for English rugby union bosses to heed the ?wake-up call? and seize the opportunity to strengthen the second tier with more generous funding in a bid to accommodate the afflicted Irish players and solidify the league structure.
In scenes grimly familiar to those encountered by the squads of Worcester Warriors and Wasps just months ago, each individual at Irish faces a different circumstance. Though some are certain to be recruited within weeks, others have taken matters into their own hands with personal calls and emails.
Telegraph Sport understands that England wing Henry Arundell and World Cup hopeful Tom Pearson have both received at least four expressions of interest from various Premiership sides. Arundell, the explosive 20-year-old who made his first Test start against Ireland during the recent Six Nations, is believed to have provisional offers from France, with multiple Top 14 clubs in the running, as well as South
Pearson was voted as the Rugby Players? Association young player of the year in recognition of his performances as Irish finished fifth in the Premiership. The all-action back-rower, and club captain Matt Rogerson, have been sounded out by Steve Borthwick and are in contention for England?s training camps this summer.
That pair could also benefit from the fact that Northampton Saints are in the market for a back-five forward after Lukhan Salakaia-Loto left for Australia last week. Harlequins and Bath are two other clubs said to be ?respectfully keeping tabs on the situation? at Irish more generally.
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The experience of Jack Willis, the ex-Wasps flanker who moved to Toulouse, will be used as a precedent for any prospective England player that secures a move outside of the Premiership. They will be able to make a strong argument that playing abroad should not hinder their eligibility, at least initially. Ben White, the Scotland scrum-half, could head to a United Rugby Championship franchise north of the border.
Meanwhile, Ben Loader, Will Joseph and Ollie Hoskins appear to have options in the Premiership. Many clubs have already spent up to budget for next season, having planned their recruitment in advance because of tight finances. As in the case of Worcester and Wasps folding last season, there will be no scope for salary-cap exemptions as a special measure.
The ceiling of the salary cap, however, is due to rise from ?5 million to ?6.4 million ahead of the 2024-25 campaign, which could help players to find destinations and squeeze onto top-flight rosters.
A number of London Irish players are aiming for roles in the Championship, following the lead of former Worcester players like Will Chudley and Matt Kvesic, both of whom will be at Coventry next season. Brochures and individual CVs are known to have been circulated to Championship clubs by agencies over the past few days, detailing clients that will be seeking employment.
'This has to be a wake-up call'
Telegraph Sport understands that there have also been direct emails and phone calls made to potential recruiters in the Championship by players at Irish. A Championship source suggested that governing bodies could act constructively in a time of change.
?This has to be a wake-up call,? they said. ?Through unfortunate circumstances, the Premiership looks like it is going to get to 10 teams, which is what they have wanted for a while.
Why not take this opportunity to fund Championship teams better so they can have a stronger second tier as well? ?I would love to take on a few of the players I have been offered. Some of them are former England Under-20 internationals, who would be great to develop. Some have Test caps. But how can I do that without additional finances from the RFU?
This should be an opportunity for them.? The RFU imposed a deadline of May 30 on London Irish in order to mitigate against uncertainty for next season given that the 2022-23 Premiership campaign saw both Worcester and Wasps go into administration during the fixture schedule.
It has since been acknowledged that it was a mistake to let those clubs start the season in such a perilous financial state. To avoid that sort of disruption during 2023-24, the RFU have asked Irish to demonstrate that either their takeover, by a US consortium, is viable or that Mick Crossan, the current owner, is prepared and able to fund the club through next season.
Failure to do so will end in suspension from competition, and a worst-case scenario is feared. Only on Friday, the RFU were said to have seen ?zero progression? with the deal. Irish have been asked to outline their plans before 4pm tomorrow to the RFU?s financial viability group, who will meet and make a recommendation to the union?s board before an official announcement on Wednesday.
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London Irish set to become third club ejected from Premiership
Deadline for takeover or proof of funding elapses on Tuesday
Wasps and Worcester already expelled this season
Gerard Meagher
Mon 29 May 2023 18.53 BST
London Irish are expected to become the third team ejected from the Premiership in eight months with the Rugby Football Union poised to suspend the Exiles should they miss Tuesday?s 5pm deadline regarding the proposed takeover.
The situation is such that several players have been seeking to line up provisional moves with England?s Henry Arundell understood to be on Bath?s radar, Paddy Jackson on Newcastle?s, and the back-rower Tom Pearson believed to be of interest to Bath and Bristol among a host of suitors.
With just hours to go until the RFU?s deadline, Irish are staring down the barrel and but for a late reprieve they will follow Wasps and Worcester out of the league.
Either the takeover by a US consortium is completed before close of business, or the current owners provide proof they will fund the Exiles for next season, or they will be suspended from the Premiership.
London Irish
London Irish at risk of Premiership ban after RFU sets deadline for takeover
Read more
Last Friday the squad was advised to prepare for the prospect of being suspended with no sign of progress despite repeated insistence from the club?s hierarchy that the takeover was close to being completed.
There has been widespread resignation that the doomsday scenario will materialise and should the RFU?s deadline, which was set this month, come and go, the union?s club finance viability working group will meet to make a recommendation to the board with an announcement expected on Wednesday. One well-placed source summed up the mood when telling the Guardian ?as far as I?m concerned, they?re gone?.
The RFU set Irish the deadline after the April wages were paid late because the consortium was unable to transfer the funds, leaving the current owner Mick Crossan to belatedly step in. Crossan was absent last Friday from the meeting at which the RFU, Premiership Rugby and the Rugby Players? Association were all present. If the takeover is not completed on Tuesday, Crossan would have to prove his commitment to funding the club but he has been looking to offload it all season.
Irish?s suspension would accelerate PRL?s plans for a 10-team league from next season but would leave dozens of players out of work in a crowded market.
It is understood players and coaches are being widely touted around clubs in the Premiership and the Championship but the majority would likely head abroad given the tight salary cap restrictions in England. One option would be to give Premiership clubs dispensation within the cap to sign London Irish players but that would require unanimous approval and would likely be met with resistance from those who choose not to spend up to the cap. A fund is also being set up by the RFU and PRL to offer hardship support.
The deadline was also set because both the RFU and PRL are desperate to avoid another season in which clubs have to drop out midway through. They do not want the Irish saga to drag over the summer and into next season but the demise of the Exiles would ramp up the pressure on both organisations.
In November, the RFU?s chief executive, Bill Sweeney, was accused of being ?asleep on the job? while he and Premiership Rugby?s Simon Massie-Taylor were blamed for ?failure on an epic scale? at a parliamentary inquiry into the demises of Worcester and Wasps.
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London Irish are 'to be SUSPENDED from the RFU on Wednesday' https://mol.im/a/12137177 via https://dailym.ai/android
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If a London based club that finished 5th in the league can?t attract buyers what hope anyone else?
It?s looking more and more like the only way to be sustainable is to own your own ground na drin other events, sugar daddies being far too fickle.
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Been given an extra week.https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/65751962
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That's a big chunk of money Crossan has to find tomorrow. Some reports suggest 500k - not expected by his plans.
And the RFU haven't still seen or approved anything.
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That's a big chunk of money Crossan has to find tomorrow. Some reports suggest 500k - not expected by his plans.
And the RFU have still seen or approved anything.
Sucks to be any of the other employees, most of whom likely did not get paid last month either.
Some creditors have been waiting months for their bills to be settled.
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So do all clubs have to disclose their finances now, I seem to remember a team decided not to make their books available.
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So do all clubs have to disclose their finances now, I seem to remember a team decided not to make their books available.
All other PRL clubs completed the process by the date. To show a forward (3 year I think) plan, and show finance firmly in place for the following season.
But, Irish were special, and allowed two extra months. And now another week, and ...
Makes a mockery of the process. Special rule for one club this year, all clubs next year.
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So do all clubs have to disclose their finances now, I seem to remember a team decided not to make their books available.
All other PRL clubs completed the process by the date. To show a forward (3 year I think) plan, and show finance firmly in place for the following season.
But, Irish were special, and allowed two extra months. And now another week, and ...
Makes a mockery of the process. Special rule for one club this year, all clubs next year.
Ah, it must be a 'soft' requirement
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Extension of a week now in doubt. Crossan met the players last night and offered them just 50% of their wages. It was a very frosty and angry meeting by some accounts. Player goodwill has evaporated. Players have told Crossan it is either full pay, today, or they serve notice and walk. Many of them have offers, and want to be off and away.
When the RFU heard this, they backtracked on the offer of an extension, and the RFU meeting yesterday to decide what to recommend to the top dogs today at their meeting changed tack. It looks likely that unless players confirm they received full wages today, the RFU will go ahead with the suspension.
It appears the RFU have also not been given any financial details of the prospective buyers, or indeed details of who they are.
I suspect Crossan is now thinking, if he pays that 50%, it will have been 'wasted' and the RFU will go ahead and suspend Irish anyway. I also think he knows the game is up.
This BBC report is NOT totally accurate (in that it omits private, OTR, comments made by some players after the meeting with Crossan):
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/65751962
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London Irish players 'were given pay ultimatum' https://mol.im/a/12142999 via https://dailym.ai/android
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London Irish players 'were given pay ultimatum' https://mol.im/a/12142999 via https://dailym.ai/android
That is tantamount to blackmail and is, at best, unethical. The players would be well advised not to accept that 'offer'.
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London Irish players 'were given pay ultimatum' https://mol.im/a/12142999 via https://dailym.ai/android
That is tantamount to blackmail and is, at best, unethical. The players would be well advised not to accept that 'offer'.
I suppose it depends how wedded to the "brand" the players are.
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London Irish players 'were given pay ultimatum' https://mol.im/a/12142999 via https://dailym.ai/android
That is tantamount to blackmail and is, at best, unethical. The players would be well advised not to accept that 'offer'.
I suppose it depends how wedded to the "brand" the players are.
Probably depends on whether 50% of something and a slither of hope in your current job / club is better then nothing and how much hope you have of getting a new job / club. Could be difficult to unite the range of players given how much hope of a new job / club each have.
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By accepting it, they may be contractually accepting a 50% pay cut. They would also lose their contractual right to walk away from the club, and time is pressing if they have other offers.
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By accepting it, they may be contractually accepting a 50% pay cut. They would also lose their contractual right to walk away from the club, and time is pressing if they have other offers.
Indeed, but most likely the high profile high earners have other offers, potentially reduced in Uk or possibly better in France / Japan, it will be the squad players on the lower salaries left with nothing currently, tough to get a united voice.
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By accepting it, they may be contractually accepting a 50% pay cut. They would also lose their contractual right to walk away from the club, and time is pressing if they have other offers.
From what seems to be doing the rounds, they were all asked to sign a contract agreeing not to leave the club, with the 'promise' they would receive the remaining 50% next week, after (when and if) the American 'investors' actually buy the club. Given that the RFU have yet to receive formal proposals, proof of funds, expecting them to approve the new buyers in a matter of days is ludicrous and fanciful. Not happening is what I would guess. Just prolonging the pain.
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Not a popular view but I think they should be pulled now. Let those players who can get an early contract here or abroad.
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By accepting it, they may be contractually accepting a 50% pay cut. They would also lose their contractual right to walk away from the club, and time is pressing if they have other offers.
Indeed, but most likely the high profile high earners have other offers, potentially reduced in Uk or possibly better in France / Japan, it will be the squad players on the lower salaries left with nothing currently, tough to get a united voice.
Might be wrong about those squad players though!
https://twitter.com/RugbyTimes/status/1663851159944065025?t=XIwRFFDj-3rLrhvvXyN-Sw&s=19
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RFU have rejected Crossan's offer to pay 50% according to the grauniad:
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/may/31/london-irish-ordered-pay-wages-in-full-by-end-of-day-or-face-suspension
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RFU have rejected Crossan's offer to pay 50% according to the grauniad:
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/may/31/london-irish-ordered-pay-wages-in-full-by-end-of-day-or-face-suspension
According to that, they laid down 2 conditions for the 7 day extension:
Full pay of all players and staff - not yet done, and not what was proposed by Crossan yesterday.
Full details of the takeover, none provided.
Everything just has that feeling of Deja Vu.
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Apparently been paid the 50%, your move RFU.
https://twitter.com/AlexMLowe/status/1663942625936670727?t=hYgexqHLwk_-L7-ytXtI_Q&s=19
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RFU will completely lose credibility if they let this go.
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RFU will completely lose credibility if they let this go.
Agreed. RFU meeting started at 7pm.
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Granted extension until 6 June...
https://twitter.com/AlexMLowe/status/1663976282898481170?s=20
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Chickens -
London Irish granted further extension until 6 June to complete takeover - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/65771765
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Interesting bet by Crossan. I?m not sure how much he?s in the hole for but obviously believes there?s a chance the Yanks will pay otherwise he?d have pulled the plug.
Also, an interesting piece of game theory working out what the RFU would do if he backed them in to a corner because he?d have lost that money if they pulled the plug.
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RFU presumably very confident the deal will be done in a week or more likely very confident it won't be so giving an extra week makes no difference but looks like they are working with club.
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Wonder if any players with offers on the table will look to move between now and 6 June
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Can we get an extra week to get ready for the Championship. If there?s no burning need to sort out who is playing in the Premiership next season, surely the same must be true for the Championship.
What?s the plan if another club goes to the wall? Would the RFU then look to sell a franchise to enter the Premiership to replace them?
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RFU presumably very confident the deal will be done in a week or more likely very confident it won't be so giving an extra week makes no difference but looks like they are working with club.
Pretty sure he thinks he might be able to pull it off, and calculated that 50% would just be enough.
Pretty sure the RFU was terrified of yet more backlash if they simply pulled the plug today. They made it 7 days from yesterday's deadline, because that was what they offered in the first place.
I would bet they are now very worried if the deal is made, and then it is left to the RFU to approve the deal and new owners. My guess is that Crossan knows that the RFU would not approve, and so he and the buyers have backed the RFU in to a corner of submission. We will know that is true if said buyers go through with the deal at the last minute next week, forcing the RFU to give another extension to allow them time to check the new buyers out, all the while under pressure from everybody.
To be fair, it was their own incompetence in allowing Irish the first extension back in April. From that point on, Crossan has been gaming them, in a giant game of poker, and the RFU have played their hand very badly. Today is just another example of how poor they are at business.
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Can we get an extra week to get ready for the Championship. If there?s no burning need to sort out who is playing in the Premiership next season, surely the same must be true for the Championship.
What?s the plan if another club goes to the wall? Would the RFU then look to sell a franchise to enter the Premiership to replace them?
This is what I find frustrating/annoying etc is the hard and fast deadlines they enforce on one thing isn't backed up on another. The deadline date is the deadline date or it isn't. How can they tell Wasps weeks ago their deadline to ensure plans for the league can be put in place but weeks late an extension can be given to a club is a higher profile league which then potentially impacts on every league below it.
I really hope Irish pull through but the RFU are really showing their incompetence on this.
Plus, I really hate the fact people think getting 50% of wages is a good thing, I'm sure for some of the higher paid players it doesn't really make much difference to their day to day life, however for a lot of non-playing staff or Academy players, they are probably in a mess with only 50% pay as it may not cover their outgoing bills leaving them nothing to pay their day to day expenses like food etc.
It's the problem with things like this for sporting teams, people see the high end side with players but don't understand the rest of the business.
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Wonder if any players with offers on the table will look to move between now and 6 June
IANAL but I?d have though paying only 50% was breach of contract if pay is for past month.
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Can we get an extra week to get ready for the Championship. If there?s no burning need to sort out who is playing in the Premiership next season, surely the same must be true for the Championship.
What?s the plan if another club goes to the wall? Would the RFU then look to sell a franchise to enter the Premiership to replace them?
This is what I find frustrating/annoying etc is the hard and fast deadlines they enforce on one thing isn't backed up on another. The deadline date is the deadline date or it isn't. How can they tell Wasps weeks ago their deadline to ensure plans for the league can be put in place but weeks late an extension can be given to a club is a higher profile league which then potentially impacts on every league below it.
I really hope Irish pull through but the RFU are really showing their incompetence on this.
Plus, I really hate the fact people think getting 50% of wages is a good thing, I'm sure for some of the higher paid players it doesn't really make much difference to their day to day life, however for a lot of non-playing staff or Academy players, they are probably in a mess with only 50% pay as it may not cover their outgoing bills leaving them nothing to pay their day to day expenses like food etc.
It's the problem with things like this for sporting teams, people see the high end side with players but don't understand the rest of the business.
Alex Lowe suggesting it was the players and staff wanting the 50% that got it through, 50% of something now better than nothing later?
https://twitter.com/AlexMLowe/status/1664012807346503684?t=YyDSC2C3qENlqhi2SS7pSQ&s=19
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Thanks for the link, it's not great from their owner.
From what I've read the fans were fully behind the owner, sounds like that has now been well and truly tarnished.
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Served a winding up order by the taxman.From The Times behind the paywall.
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Can anyone cut and paste please.
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I can give you what the Torygraph said:
London Irish on the brink after being served winding up petition
London Irish have been served a winding up petition by HM Revenue and Customs as the financial crisis deepens for the stricken Premiership club.
Irish face being suspended from competition next Tuesday unless they can demonstrate that they can be funded through next season, either by the US consortium purportedly interested in buying them or by their existing ownership.
On Friday, a winding up petition from HMRC over unpaid tax added to that tension. London Irish Rugby Ground Limited, London Irish Holdings Limited and London Irish Scottish Richmond Limited have all been singled out.
All three of these companies count Adrian Alli, the club?s interim chief executive, and owner Mick Crossan as directors and list their respective addresses in Sunbury-On-Thames.
While not terminal to the business in itself, and different to a winding up order, the issue of these winding up petitions follow an ominous trend. Worcester Warriors went into administration last September after months of uncertainty over the payment of wages, which foreshadowed a winding up petition.
London Irish employees have only been paid half of their wages for May, having also had to wait to receive their salaries for April. The latter only arrived two days before the club?s final match of the Premiership season against Exeter Chiefs when Crossan stepped in to stump up the cash as players were about to hand in breach-of-contract letters.
The timing of the crisis is particularly brutal on players and staff because finding onward destinations will not be easy. Many teams, both in the Premiership across the French Top 14, are finished with their recruitment for next season and tied by salary cap constraints of their respective competitions.
Having granted a week-long extension at the request of Irish players and staff, the RFU has stressed that their June 6 deadline is final.
The article then goes on to review the new help the government is working on. Got to love the irony.
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This is only ending one way unfortunately. Surely with three disbanded squads wages will become depressed. Supply is starting to seriously outweigh demand.
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If Irish go then that is just under a quarter of the league bust. At what point do other suppliers for remaining teams decide they want out or payment up front etc.
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If Irish go then that is just under a quarter of the league bust. At what point do other suppliers for remaining teams decide they want out or payment up front etc.
Quickly
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https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/jun/05/london-irish-premiership-rugby-union-wasps-rfu-worcester
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Daily Telegraph saying deadline missed and suspension done.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union/2023/06/06/london-irish-suspended-premiership-rfu-missed-deadline/ (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union/2023/06/06/london-irish-suspended-premiership-rfu-missed-deadline/)
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London Irish to be suspended from Premiership after missing wages deadline
Exclusive: Irish had not paid their staff and players by 4pm deadline and have become the third Premiership club to be suspended this season
By Gavin Mairs, Chief Rugby Union Correspondent 6 June 2023 ? 5:01pm
London Irish are understood to have missed their 4pm deadline to pay staff and players, with an announcement thought to be imminent that the club will be suspended.
It is understood all players and staff have been invited onto a Zoom call at 6.30pm. The RFU?s club financial viability group is due to meet at 5pm to consider whether or not Irish has met the conditions of proving they have the funds in place for next season, with sources close to the players expecting to be told that it has failed to do so. The decision to suspend London Irish from all leagues has to be rubber-stamped by the RFU board.
It is understood that the US consortium has not made enough progress to complete their proposed takeover, having missed multiple deadlines to provide proof of funds and other details for a fit-and-proper person test.
That will spark a huge scramble for players such as Henry Arundell and Tom Pearson with Irish set to be the third club to be suspended this season, after Wasps and Worcester.
This is a breaking story. More to follow
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Horrendous and heart-breaking for everybody conne4ctedwith Irish. So very sorry.
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The RFU and RPA have both confirmed the suspension. London Irish have not said anything.
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The RFU and RPA have both confirmed the suspension. London Irish have not said anything.
Irish just tweeted a link to their site, which has crashed.
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London Irish are SUSPENDED from the Gallagher Premiership https://mol.im/a/12166285 via https://dailym.ai/android
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https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/jun/06/london-irish-ejected-from-premiership-after-us-takeover-falls-through-rugby-union
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https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union/2023/06/06/london-irish-suspended-premiership-rfu-missed-deadline/
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London Irish suspended from the Premiership for failing to pay staff - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/65819546
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Irish website crashed - maybe somebody didn't get paid!
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How on earth is Massie-Taylor still in his pointless job. Why does Sweeney keep trotting out platitudes about working closely with everyone as everything falls apart. I?m afraid we?re seeing the legacy of a sport that has simply not grown but has paid too much to keep up with cheats and the eternally funded.
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I very much doubt this is the last club to go.
Since 2008, ultra low interest rates have allowed companies on the edge to get away without restructuring and instead rely on a diet of cheap debt to the point of addiction.
The upshot is a host of zombie companies kept afloat by this cheap debt tide. Now that that tide is heading out fast, we?re beginning to find out who had been swimming naked. Sadly, it appears that this includes a large number of rugby clubs.
It also wouldn?t surprise me if it turns out that the RFU is amongst them with Sweeney leading the charge. And I think we can all agree that?s one tackle below the waist that we can do without seeing.
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It also wouldn?t surprise me if it turns out that the RFU is amongst them with Sweeney leading the charge. And I think we can all agree that?s one tackle below the waist that we can do without seeing.
40m in debt and another 10m adjustment for unexpected cost increases, plus now having to build a new roof at HQ. As bankrupt as Wasps fairly soon. How on earth will they balance that budget? I suppose, with each club having 6 less games to play, maybe organize some more international games?
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So this at least puts paid to the idea that Wasps could have made it at Brentford regardless of the change in opinion of the council. Crowds always looked good for Irish there.
I just wonder if Wasps and the others had taken their medicine sooner, would they still be in the upper levels of rugby.
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So this at least puts paid to the idea that Wasps could have made it at Brentford regardless of the change in opinion of the council. Crowds always looked good for Irish there.
I just wonder if Wasps and the others had taken their medicine sooner, would they still be in the upper levels of rugby.
Crowds always looked good - this was due to the various coloured seats. It was a computer generated colour scheme to suggest seats were taken. Very clever visual deception.
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Crowds always looked good - this was due to the various coloured seats. It was a computer generated colour scheme to suggest seats were taken. Very clever visual deception.
Indeed. They didn't even sell out their own prem cup final !
Also agree that hopefully the " Wasps should have stayed in London," using Irish as an example, proponents will quietly shut up now, along with the "No relegation will be great for the prem" crowd.....
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Exploratory discussions are understood to have taken place between senior officials at the Rugby Football Union and their Irish counterparts in relation to London Irish, Telegraph Sport can reveal.
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Presumably Irish will be offered a place in the championship the season after next if they can pay rugby creditors.
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It's becoming routine practice isn't it.
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Ireland hold first talks over London Irish phoenix club
Exclusive: Discussions have been limited to preliminary soundings with RFU thought to be keen to explore every opportunity to save the club
By Gavin Mairs, Chief Rugby Union Correspondent 7 June 2023 ? 8:05pm
Exploratory discussions are understood to have taken place between senior officials at the Rugby Football Union and their Irish counterparts in relation to London Irish, Telegraph Sport can reveal.
The informal talks are thought to have been prompted by the IRFU?s publicly stated desire to create more playing opportunities for the bottleneck of talent within the Irish academy.
It is understood that the discussions have been limited to preliminary soundings, given the strong bond and relationship between the two unions and the complexities involved if the IRFU was to consider some involvement in what would be a phoenix club after London Irish on Tuesday was forced to file for administration.
Both unions confirmed that talks had taken place, although for now it remains at a hypothetical stage, with the IRFU, in a statement to Telegraph Sport, diplomatically saying it had ?no plans currently to invest in rugby outside of Ireland.?
?The RFU has informally kept the IRFU updated on the situation at London Irish,? said an IRFU spokesperson. ?Naturally the IRFU is saddened by what has happened at the club and hope that the club?s difficulties can be resolved sometime in the future.?
The RFU declined to comment but is thought to be keen to explore every opportunity to save the club from going into extinction, in a traumatic season that has already seen Wasps and Worcester Warriors go to the wall.
Significantly, revelation of the talks comes as it is understood that Premiership Rugby are to explore with the RFU a potential process that would allow London Irish, Wasps and Worcester Warriors to return to professional rugby at some stage as franchises in a restructured Championship, which is likely to be rebranded as ?Prem 2?.
Any move to engage in an initial high-level exercise to see if an investment might be possible to resurrect the troubled club, which was suspended from all leagues on Tuesday after failing to meet the RFU?s deadline to provide proof of funds and ownership, would likely take at least 12 months.
It is understandable why the prospect of taking some role in one of the most famous brands in club rugby might prove attractive to the IRFU.
Five years ago, the Scottish Rugby Union looked at taking a 20 per cent stake in Newcastle Falcons, having also considered buying Worcester Warriors, so there is something of a precedent here, although any move would have to be agreed and welcomed by the RFU.
The IRFU?s strong financial position means it is likely to be able to resource the club with coaches and staff within their high-performance unit and bring over academy players who are struggling to get game time within the four provincial sides.
Such a move might require a loosening of the English-qualified system if the IRFU wanted to bring through its own players, along with English and overseas players, but it could prove attractive to a rebranded and restructured Premiership if it is able to reconnect with the Irish expat community and bring in fresh investment.
Mick Crossan, who has owned the club since 2013, said he had been left with no other option to file for administration after the failure of a takeover from US consortium NUE Equity headed by Califorian lawyer Chip Sloan. He also called for a radical overhaul of the professional game in England.
With debts of over ?30 million and facing a wind-up petition from HMRC for an unpaid tax bill, Crossan said it was no longer ?feasible for me to continue absorbing the multi-million-pound losses of the club each year, indefinitely.?
?As we neared the completion of the deal, I continually received promises, from both NUE Equity and Redstrike, that the acquisition would be completed imminently, and that funds would arrive within days,? said Crossan.
?Right up to Tuesday?s final deadline, we continued to receive verbal assurances from the group. I have trusted that these were not hollow promises and agreed to financially support the club throughout to ensure it could finish the season and give the group time to conclude the deal.
?Sadly, the promises have failed to materialise, and, despite our very best efforts, it was not possible to meet the conditions set by the RFU Club Financial Viability Group yesterday afternoon.?
Crossan also warned that other clubs were also in a precarious position and called on the administrators of the game to ?urgently review their practices from top to bottom.
?The comments from the RFU chair, Tom Ilube, completely overlook the precarious situation other clubs are currently in,? he added.
?Collectively, owners of clubs are working very hard to transform their models, but the lack of real support, at times, is non-existent. And it speaks volumes that Ralph Rimmer and Chris Pilling have been appointed by the Government as independent advisers to work on the future stability of rugby union in the UK.
?The professional game in this country needs to be radically transformed. And the current leadership must urgently review its practices from top to bottom if it has a desire to see professional rugby continue in England.?
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London Irish: 'No plans' for IRFU to invest in troubled club - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/65844963